Month: November 2018

It’s November, we all know what that means, flowery, over the top posts regarding thanks. I do believe that means I am overdue for my own thankful missive. Buckle up, it’s going to be one fun filled ride.

I am thankful for boot season, I love boots and I cannot lie, those other girls might deny, but when a cute pair walks in I get happy.

Even when it warms up here in Texas I still wear boots during boot season.

Sweater dresses and sweaters, I love them, I am thankful for them. The patterns, the heaviness of the material used to make sweaters and sweater dresses, all total greatness.

I am grateful for Dean Cain movie goodness on the Hallmark Channel. He is the king of Christmas movies after all, and this is his season. Tis the season for Dean, thankfulness abounds.

I am thankful for my DVD player, I can watch Lois and Clark: the new adventures of Superman any time I want.

I am thankful for the Keto diet, I shall not get fat over Christmas. Must look good on the off chance I meet Dean Cain.

I am thankful for online shopping, I love coming home to packages on my front door. How awesome is that, it’s like Merry Christmas to me all the time!

I am thankful for smart phones, I love having the internet at my fingertips 24×7, playing word games, puzzle games, Instagram for fun, Twitter for amusement and Facebook to tell me what not to do today.

I am thankful for a cat and dog that are so very judgmental and keep me grounded and amused.

I am thankful I still live in a country where I get to say what I want, when I want, one small caveat, not at work. Protesting at work is frowned upon, hmmm I wonder who could take note of that. While on the job, no protesting, check.

I am thankful I live in a country where I can dress how I want, say what I want and listen to whatever music I want.

Which brings me to, I am thankful for music, the music that speaks to my soul, the music that makes me dance, cry and laugh. Baby shark anyone?

I am thankful I get to write on here and be as sarcastic as I want, as serious as I want or as funny as I want.

As usual any comments, complaints or criticisms can be left here or sent to me atangei@angieworld.com.

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Well, I went on another adventure, this one to my beloved Norman, OK to see my beloved Sooners play their last home game of the season.

So, my friend Kristie works with a woman that has season tickets to OU (that’s Boomer Sooner to you) and offered her the tickets to the OU/Jayhawks game. Kristie, being from Kansas, said yes, to see her beloved Jayhawks in action was too tempting.

She then sent me a text and said there was no one she would rather see an OU game with than me. I immediately said heck yeah. So we made plans to go to the big game.

It turned out to be an evening game, so I asked my friend Shay if she would trade schedules with me. That way I wouldn’t have to be at work the next day at the crack of dawn.

She graciously agreed, we had a plan, the adventure moved forward!

We decided to meet in Gainesville, TX, since she was coming from far west Plano and I was coming from Anna.

Well, I overshoot Gainesville and actually crossed the boarder into OK. I backtracked and we went on in her car.

So much fun, I have been incredibly blessed with incredible friends where conversations never lag and we listen to the same music.

We get to Norman and park, we walk on to the campus and the fun begins in earnest.

We spy Barry Switzer on a stage, with a camera crew, we go closer and they are filming a segment called Coach’s Corner. There was another man sitting with him, I stared hard at the man, I told Kristie I know I know that man. He is super familiar. I kept staring, then they introduced him, it was Thomas Lott! He played for OU in the 1970’s, more than that, he was our neighbor in Plano! My son, Alex, was friends with one of his sons. So much fun seeing him up there with Coach Switzer. For those of you who don’t know, or don’t remember, I was born being an OU fan. My grandpa was one, my dad was one and I was born in OU hospital.

I am not a sports fan, I am an OU fan, while my mom and I bonded over Little House on the Prairie books, my dad and I bonded over OU games. Finding a commonality when one is adopted at an older age is a bonus. That love never left us, my dad loved OU until the day he left this earth. I carry that legacy of loyalty for him.

Back to the adventure, we wondered around looking for a store that had OU beanies, I wanted one, Kristie wanted one, so we searched. We found the store and we bought our hats, I am really glad we did, it became really cold later and that hat was very much needed.

We found a place to eat and discovered Kristie lost her glove, yes, one, we looked and looked, backtracked, no glove. No worries, she used her hat as a glove, it was the funniest thing to see. Incredibly effective, but funny, we found out a cold front was coming in and our new hats came in very handy.

We found our seats, 6 rows up from the field, in the endzone, we saw every touchdown OU made! It was very exciting, Kristie saw her beloved Jayhawks and the their mascot. We saw Boomer and Sooner and the Sooner Schooner! We saw Miss Oklahoma and the band up close, it was such a great experience. I am so grateful she thought of me and asked me to go with her.

We left at the 4th quarter because it was getting so cold, we walked about 3 million miles to the car. Our legs were completely frozen, thank goodness her car had seat warmers. It took over an hour to get the feelings back in our legs and behinds!

When we got to the car Kristie was saying she was worried about her parents cats, that conversation went something like this:

K: I’m really worried about my parents cats.

M: why? Are they outdoor cats or barn cats?

K: they live in the chicken coop.

M: where are the chickens?

K: they died.

M: DIED????

K: they got old and died.

M: Oh.

K: yeah my parents aren’t replacing them, they are too old to care for the chickens.

At this point I burst out laughing and said only two people from Oklahoma and Kansas can have a conversation about their parents being too old for chickens and understand the whole thing.

In case you were wondering OU won 55 to 40.

2018 has been filled with excitement, I have to tell you I have way better friends than everyone else.

First BBFF and his GF surprise me with a thank you trip to Austin to meet multiple Dr. Who’s and search for Dean Cain. Then a road trip with Shay to Montana, a trip I have dreamed of taking since I was a kid. Then the OU outing with Kristie, amazing times with such great people.

The only thing that could top any of this would be meeting and marrying Dean Cain. There is still time, 6 weeks left until 2019. It could happen.

I already have one trip planned for 2019, with my daughter as my adventure companion.

As usual, any comments, questions or criticisms can be left here or sent to angie@angieworld.com.

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Today is national Adoption Day, a day set aside for families to finalize adoptions. Judges and court reporters and everyone else volunteers to do this job on this day.

It is a great day for families across this nation, children get their hopes of a family to belong to, parents get to become, well parents, with no fear of their children being taken away from them.

As everyone knows, I am adopted, to me this day speaks to me especially. I have an unique perspective on adoption, I was adopted and I gave a child up for adoption.

My adoption was by family, I chose strangers to give my child to, for incredibly selfish reasons. You see there was no way I could emotionally see my child at family reunions, get togethers, funerals, weddings, whatever.

There would have been no way I could have done it, it was selfish on my part. Me being adopted was the best day ever, me handing my child over, one of the worst.

And best, I knew it was the best decision I could have made for her. For her betterment, it was selfish to give her to strangers, but it was for her benefit to give her to people who could care for her financially and emotionally.

I celebrate this day, for the people who, for whatever reason, decide to adopt. You are heroes to these children, but I also celebrate the women that realize they cannot raise their own children.

If women were celebrated for recognizing their own heroism in giving children to people who can care for them the world would be a much better place. Instead we are shamed, it is shameful to talk about giving a child to adults who want to and are ready to become parents.

For decades girls and young women who became pregnant outside of marriage were shipped off to homes for girls like that. Girls that happened to had to be bad, right? So they were hidden, and after the baby was gone, it was never discussed again. It was something to be hidden and it was something to be ashamed of.

Think about it, to this day no one talks about these women, the ones that carry the children, nurture them in their bodies and then hand them over to someone else to raise.

It is an unselfish act, it is an act of complete surrender, you see, for the most part, we are not party girls. We are not reckless, we just got caught doing what everyone else was doing. Some girls were forced and the children are the result of that tragedy.

All in all, we are emotionally, financially and mentally not ready to raise a child, so we give them to people that can.

This is what we should be celebrating, in all of the talk of actresses holding parties to celebrate abortions, this is what we should really be celebrating.

Women who make the sacrifice of carrying a child they know will never be theirs. The ones that give their children to others to raise. We made the sacrifice of our bodies, they will never be the same. We made the sacrifice of our souls and hearts, because part of them will always be missing.

So on National Adoption Day, I celebrate you, the women who made it possible for people to adopt.

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I am going to say the one thing that women my age are not supposed to say. It will be shocking in nature, not for the faint of heart. If you are feeling weak, don’t look, just back away slowly and get more coffee, because that is what will be needed for what comes next.

I love my cat, he is furry, fun and evil, cantankerous and grouchy and loving. All wrapped into one, I am so happy I decided to take him into my home.

I think I’ve told this story before, how Fat Catstard (aka Ronald) came to live with me.

My oldest son, Jeffrey, was looking to re-home his cat, Ronald. He had two cats and a dog and was selling his home and would be living elsewhere until he built his new home. That many pets was too many for him to responsibly take care of while all of that was going on.

He asked if Ronald could stay with me until he found somewhere else for him to live. I agreed, after a week I called him and said I’m keeping the cat. He laughed and said I thought you might say that.

So Ronald became a permanent part of my household. I call him Fat Catstard because I really believe he is an evil genius. He made me fall in love with him, and he bites, and wakes me up at 2am meowing to the wall. I also believe he is my protector. He is a better watch dog, most certainly, than a Husky. That Husky would allow a burglar in and show them all the good stuff then say here’s the treats, I need you to pay me now.

Fat Catstard on the other hand would attack a stranger and get them out of the house.

So, I love my cat, I am on my way to becoming the old spinster woman with 50 cats. It’s all good though, I’m ready for it. Not the 50 cats, that is a total exaggeration, but I’m ready to be the crazy old lady, I mean I have the crazy part down, crazy in a fun way, not scary. Unless you get on my bad side, then it is so very scary.

Just ask some Plano ISD teachers, they have been on the receiving end of some of that kind of crazy.

Other than that, I think I will stick with the one cat for now, I think he likes being the king of the household.

He is a very funny cat, he likes to take a morning constitutional before I go to work. I have to make sure he is in before I leave, he is pretty sneaky. I have learned to wait to put his food out until I am ready to leave. That way he makes sure he is inside, he will not skip a meal. There is a reason he has earned the first part of his name.

His belly used to drag the ground, I am happy to report it no longer does. Thanks to food portions and diet food, he is happy with me, I believe. I don’t know though, sometimes he does bite, a lot. Of course it could do with the fact I intentionally irritate him at times. We have a good relationship, he and I, he claims the whole house as his.

So, that is my secret, the one thing women my age are not supposed to admit for fear of being labeled a crazy cat lady.

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Today is my best friend’s birthday, let’s all take a moment to tell Tammi happy birthday.

I would like to tell you about my best friend, we have been friends since we met at the ripe old age of 13 years old. On a dusty, dirt road in the great city of Owasso, Oklahoma. We have been through thick and thin together, it was immediate friendship.

We bonded over two city girls stuck in the country, she grew up in Tulsa and I grew up in Oklahoma City.

That country road led us to different paths in life, but the friendship was always there. We only had one serious falling out and that was quickly put to rest.

We may not talk every day, but when we do we pick up exactly where we left off. If she needed me I would drop everything to talk to her or listen, I know she would do the same for me.

We may live in different states, but she is still my best friend, the one that I call or text when I have something good to tell. The one that knows literally everything about me and is totally non-judgmental. The one that will jerk a knot in my tail when I need that as well.

So today, on the day of her birth, I celebrate her, her generous heart, her amazing sense of humor and her loyalty.

Happy Birthday Tammi, may God continue to bless your life in tremendous ways.

It’s been a long friendship and it will only become longer as the years go by. I hope your Birthday month is filled with amazement, awesomeness and total greatness!

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Mark Wahlberg has a new movie that is coming out next week, Instant Family. It is about a couple that want to adopt and end up with three older children from foster care.

I will be going to see this movie, I hope it encourages people who want to adopt to go through the foster system and look at older children.

I was one of those older children, I wasn’t in the foster system, but I really was unadoptable by the world’s standard. Most people want babies, they want a child they can raise from infancy to adulthood. Typically older children have been through a pretty rough life and are harder to handle. It takes special people to take on this responsibility.

Older children also live with constant fear that they will be sent back if they are too difficult, which is hard to avoid in teenage years.

Usually there is a pivotal moment when the child realizes no matter what happens they have found their home.

I remember what mine was vividly, it wasn’t too long after I came to live with my parents. About 6 months in, I was sitting in class and someone came and said I was wanted in the Principals office. the whole class said ooooooohhh, of course, I was confused, I didn’t remember doing anything.

I went in and there was the Principal and my birth mother and my oldest birth brother and his wife. I just stood there, I thought oh they just called these people and didn’t want to see me again.

I just knew my life was over, it really would have been, these were not good people.

Unbeknownst to me, the principal had called my parents and the chief of police in Owasso. I wish I could remember his name, because he was incredible.

Just when June (birth mother) was telling me they had come for me, my parents burst through the door.

I instantly knew I was safe, my mom grabbed my hand and pulled me close to her. I knew right then I wasn’t going anywhere and they were not giving me up. My dad proceeded to just speak to June telling her that she had signed the adoption papers (before that I didn’t know that had happened and they were taking legal steps to make me theirs). He told her for once in her life do the right thing for one of her children.

Birth brothers wife then spoke up and she was talking to me and said we have your room ready, it’s your favorite color, yellow.

Yellow! My mom exclaimed, that shows you don’t know her at all, her favorite color is deep red. About that time the chief of police shows up, if any of my Owasso friends read this, please tell me his name.

He took one look at what was going on, he was good friends with my dad and already knew the story of me. He told those people, you have thirty minutes to get out of Owasso. If you ever come back to my town I will not need a reason to arrest you, I will just do it. Do not stop for gas, food or anything else until you hit Tulsa.

They left that day and that was the last time I ever saw birth brother. From what I have heard he is in prison now for multiple crimes. I saw June once more at my grandmother’s funeral.

But in that moment I knew I wasn’t going anywhere and I could be myself. I could fully be Angie and they wouldn’t want to get rid of me.

Adopting an older child is in a way a lot more work than starting with an infant, but it changes that child for the better.

I have said it before, I very literally don’t know what would have happened to me if my parents hadn’t adopted me. I will be going to see the movie and I am positive I am going to cry.

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I voted today. Its not a day I typically vote, I’m not super keen on voting early. I actually enjoy the voting on the first Tuesday of November process.

But these days voting has become divisive if you don’t vote the way people think you should.

I don’t take voting lightly, you see I possess this ability, it’s called reading, I know what women went through so I could have a say in the way my country is ran.

It is not only our civic duty, it is our responsibility as an American citizen to cast our ballot. It is our, the regular people, opportunity to be heard.

I grew up in a household that took voting seriously, one simply did not walk in blindly on Election Day. No, that would have been completely unacceptable. My dad taught me to educate myself on the issues and the candidates. He never once insinuated his preferences onto me.

To this day I have no idea who my parents voted for, with the exception of Franklin Roosevelt. I know my mom voted for him. She told me, when I called her sobbing at Ronald Reagan’s exit speech.

I digress, I opted to vote early this time due to extraneous events in our nation. I didn’t want to take the chance on Election Day of not being able to get to a polling place.

I still remember the first time I ever voted. It was 1984, it was a presidential election year. I did my research, I watched the debates, I was more than ready.

I went to the fire station in Owasso, I took a book with me. The lines were long, but I didn’t read, instead I talked to those around me. I was so excited I was telling everyone this was my first time. No one tried to influence my vote, or even asked me who I was voting for. It was just perfect, I walked into the booth, yes, it was an actual voting booth, I took a deep breath and made my very first declaration into adulthood.

You see I didn’t feel like a real adult until I voted for the first time. I’ve always loved the process, until now. I try (see what I did there) not to push my political beliefs on to others. I try not to be obnoxious about what I see as right and wrong. Others cannot say the same.

So today I voted, early, I need to be heard.

As usual any comment, questions or criticisms can be left here or sent to me at angie@angieworld.com.